SSCN Voumes 1-10, 1994-2004

& ST. SHENOUDA COPTIC NEWSLETTER Quarterly Newsletter Published by the Staff of the St. Shenouda Center for Coptic Studies

1494 S. Robertson Blvd., Ste. 204, LA, CA 90035

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April, 1997

Volume 3, No. 3

In This Issue: The Coptic Heritage (1) - The Coptic Bible (2) by Hany N. Takla ...............................1 St. Shenouda's Writings (8) by Ashraf Hanna and Hany N. Takla..................................3 The First St. Shenouda Coptic Symposium by Hany N. Takla.......................................4 News by Hany N. Takla ...............................................................................................5

THE COPTIC HERITAGE (1) THE COPTIC BIBLE (2) (by Hany N. Takla)

The State of Preservation of Biblical Texts In Coptic: Manuscripts containing Coptic biblical texts did not survive in great numbers. Even though the Bible, Old and New Testament, was probably all translated in Bohairic as well as Sahidic dialects. Each version was translated independently from the Original Greek. Texts in regional dialects other than Bohairic and Sahidic, though very ancient, were usually translations from the above mentioned dialects. They survived, but in even smaller numbers. There is no indication that they were complete translations of the entire Bible. The state of current preservation of the texts was affected by many of the changes that occurred within the Church in the Middle Ages. These can be summarized in the following points: 1. The decrease of the number of educated Copts that were well-versed in the Coptic Language not long after the Arab Conquest of Egypt in the 7th century AD. This came gradually and was caused by the new emphasis placed by them on learning the Arabic Language to keep their government jobs. 2. The transfer of the Patriarchate to the new capital Cairo in the 11th century AD. This caused the more standard Sahidic version to

slowly go into oblivion in favor of the local dialect of the region, Bohairic. 3. Introduction of Arabic into ecclesiastical circles further retarded the use of Coptic and subsequently of Coptic biblical texts in the Church. 4. The institutions of strict lectionary system for all Coptic services from the 12th century AD and up, made the use of full texts of biblical books not necessary and eventually their production, in manuscript form, slowly gave way to those of the lectionaries. This was especially true of Old Testament texts. 5. As Coptic lost ground in the church, monastic circles gained more prominence in its use. Thus reading Coptic biblical texts began to be influenced by the monastic habits. In other words, the less emphasized biblical books tended to disappear in Coptic. This can be seen from the visible loss of texts of the Historical books of the Old Testament which may not have given the monks the same benefit that they derived from other books of the Bible.

St. Shenouda Coptic Newsletter